The bizarre things which brought down powerful men

IT SEEMED an odd thing to resign over, but in the end Barry O’Farrell was brought down by a bottle of wine. It wouldn’t be the first time a powerful man came unstuck in a bizarre way.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford denied smoking crack, but later admitted he did. Twitter.

IT SEEMED a small and bizarre thing to resign over, but in the end Barry O’Farrell was brought down by a bottle of wine.

The outgoing NSW Premier denied receiving a $3000 bottle of wine from Australian Water Holdings boss Nick Di Girolamo when he fronted ICAC on Tuesday.

But he resigned yesterday after it was revealed he sent Mr Di Girolamo a card thanking him for the gift, insisting he did not “wilfully mislead” the watchdog.

He described the missing bottle of wine as a “significant memory fail on my part” and said he accepted the consequences.

But it wouldn’t be the first time a man in a powerful position came unstuck in a bizarre way.

Mick Young:

Former Hawke Cabinet Minister Mick Young was brought down by a Paddington Bear back in 1984.

The former shearer and Labor national secretary was forced to stand down from the ministry after flying into Adelaide Airport from overseas on July 5 that year.

He signed a customs statement saying there was nothing to declare in his baggage, but failed to mention he had gifts, including a large Paddington Bear.

An inquiry found he had no intention to evade customs duty but said he should have exercised greater care in declaring his goods.

The bear incurred $1093 in duty, and Young, who always insisted he knew nothing of the toy, returned to the ministry.

But he was dogged by further scandal over his alleged handling of campaign donations for the 1987 election and quit politics the following year.

Mick Young, left, in a file picture with cartoonist Paul Zanetti and a Paddington Bear.

Silvio Berlusconi — a bunga bunga party

The disgraced former Italian PM, who was involved in several scandals, is most well-known for that involving a young woman named Ruby and a series of “bunga bunga” parties.

The entrepreneur and media tycoon, who served as Prime Minister three times, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011, was convicted of paying an underage prostitute for sex in a Milan court last year.

The Moroccan teen at the centre of the scandal, Karima el-Mahroug, better known as Ruby, received $3000 cash every time she attended a ‘Bunga Bunga’ party, plus jewellery and a lump sum of 57,000 euros supposedly to open a beauty salon, in exchange for sexual favours.

The court asserted Berlusconi was aware she was a minor — 17 — at the time of the 2010 encounters and he was given a seven-year-jail time and a life ban ban from politics.

While he was already out of office at the time of the conviction, his actions sparked anger from the country whose economy was going down the gurgler while he was having bunga bunga parties.

Most recently, the 77-year-old was ordered to spend a year in community service in an old person’s home for tax fraud but was spared prison time due to his age.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Moroccan Karima El Mahroug, nicknamed Ruby the Heartstealer in a nightclub.

Bill Clinton — a blue dress

It was the sex scandal which rocked the world when it emerged the then US leader had an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

For anyone who can’t remember it, Monica Lewinsky was an intern at the White House in 1995-96 who Clinton admitted having an “inappropriate relationship” after famously denying “having sex with that woman”.

Ms Lewinsky was 22 at the time of her first liaison with Clinton.

The affair between Ms Lewinsky and the married president led to Mr Clinton’s impeachment.

The scandal was exposed in 1998 after Ms Lewinsky confided in Linda Tripp, who then began secretly recording conversations between the intern and the president and a blue dress with semen stains on it later produced as evidence of the affair.

Former President Bill Clinton at first denied having an affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Rob Ford — smoking crack photo

The controversial Toronto Mayor has made headlines for all the wrong reasons thanks to his partying ways, and lying about a certain drug-taking incident.

Ford, who is currently seeking re-election this year despite a record of erratic behaviour, acknowledged that he had smoked crack despite previous denials.

Mr Ford had denied being a “crack addict” after reports of a video that showed him smoking crack cocaine first appeared in Gawker and the Toronto Star.

The City Council later stripped him of most of his mayoral powers following the admission that he did indeed smoke the drug last year.

Toronto mayor Rob Ford denied smoking crack, but later admitted he did. Twitter.

David Petraeus (former CIA director) — catty emails

Former CIA director David Petraeus long military and intelligence career was left in tatters over an affair and a string of catty emails.

Petraeus who began an affair with the author of his biography Paula Broadwell in late 2011 when he was no longer an active duty military officer.

He ended the affair less than a year later around the same time he discovered she had been sending harassing emails to another woman Jill Kelley.

Ms Kelley, who is a family friend of the Petraeus family, showed the emails to a friend in the FBI who then contacted the cyber squad.

Its investigation led them to Ms Broadwell, the 40-year-old married mother of two who had been conducting a secret affair with the decorated general.

The affair between Petraeus, 60, and Ms Broadwell began roughly two months after he assumed his post at the CIA in September 2011, and after he retired from the US Army.

But it did end his career with the CIA and he resigned as its director in November 2012.

General David Petraeus was brought down by a string of catty emails.